Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Stormy

Little did we know that, as we passed through the small town of Sallisaw on our last ride (Stupid RA posted on 3-19), that 11 days later a tornado would follow part of where we were riding.

The storm first dropped by Muskogee, OK. The area was severe and tornado warned. At 9:35pm, three miles west of Fort Gibson, a tornado was confirmed with damage to a farm and equipment and roof damage to a home. It tracked on SE toward our house so we were watching the storm.

Above is some amazing night tornado video footage shot by Danny Mattox from the storm at Sallisaw, OK about 11:15PM on March 30, 2013. The storm was severe warned, but not tornado warned. Thankfully no one was injured, however some barns were destroyed and one home received significant damage.

By the time the storm passed over our house, it was reduced to high winds and pea size hail. You can see from the video, shot from our front porch, below how much lightning the storm contained.

Just for the recored, my RA was maxed out as the barometer was in the low 29's during the storms.

7
comments:

I've never experienced a tornado, Terry, but the very thought gives me the heebie-jeebies. That first video was really creepy; the second, that you shot, reminds me of the little lightening and rain storm we had here last week. They're very rare, so I watched the sky flicker and flash with fascination. There wasn't much thunder, which surprised me. And like yours, my rheuma was wide awake and snarling.

Fingers are crossed that the twisters stay well away from you and your family as the season arrives. Take care!

I actually watched one pass. I was about 14 years and my mom and I were out. We took safety in a donut shop and watched it pass. We do not get a lot in NE Ohio but when we do, they leave an impact. My RA has been all over the place with the changing weather conditions. April will be a rainy month and my RA is already predicting an ongoing storm. :-(

Wren , they are very hard to see at night usually but with so much lightening, it keeps this one quite visible. Excellent video footage for a night time tornado! I have seen a few during the day time. Two years ago, we had a rotating wall cloud one mile from our house and I shot several photos of a funnel trying to drop down from it but it could never stay together. The tornado in the video was about 24 miles from where we live ... not real close but close enough to make you pay attention.

Lana, your first one you see is usually the most scary one. My RA is up and down almost daily right now. We are having 75 degree temps one day and a high of 45 the next right now. Next week it is supposed to warm up and not have so much of the up and down temps. We'll see.

Just read an article about how Oklahoma is courting retirees. They didn't mention the tornados. I can understand why. Scary stuff those storms. My father was from Ponca City Oklahoma but I don’t remember him ever talking about tornadoes.

About Me

I live with a chronic disease (RA) but still ride all that I can. Riding is my therapy. RA is a strange disease to live with, one day it is all I can do to get out of bed and walk to the living room, the next day I may go ride 150 miles. I do not live or ride pain free but will not give up on enjoying life. I have been reduced to adventure riding, the least strenuous type of off road riding. RA limits my mileage to 150-200 miles a day. I currently own a 2013 KLR650 which I ride every chance I get.